Vandalia Elementary School

For students coming for in person instruction twice a week: Bring you backpack with supplies that will fit on the first day. Anything that won't fit can be sent in on the next day you are in attendance. Keep some crayons, glue, pencils, and paper at home also to use on the "off" days. Bring a refillable water bottle if you wish. Come to school/get on the bus with a mask from home on- we will give you a Vandals mask on the first day(s). Every single staff member will be stationed throughout the building in the hallways helping students find their teacher and classroom. This is my promise to you- we will make sure that all children are properly escorted to their classrooms and feel comfortable and safe. If a child does not acclimate quickly to his/her teacher, either myself, the assistant principal, or the teacher will personally call the parent for assistance. Students may bring their lunch from home, but no food or snacks may be brought into the school by parents or via deliveries during the school day. All breakfast and lunch will be served in individual servings in a paper lunch bag. Students will be separated by six feet while eating lunch. Arrival is from 7:45-8:30. Breakfast is served from 7:45-8:15. Arrival is from the circle drive in front of the school (please stay in your car and proceed through the circle drive) or from the bus drop off in back of the school. Dismissal is at 3:00 for students who are getting picked up. It is best for parents to stay in their car and proceed through the circle drive to pick up their child. Early bus riders dismiss at 3:00 and late bus riders dismiss at 3:15. - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

Attention Vandalia School District Parents/Guardians/Community Members: Please read the attached document at this link: https://5il.co/jiv3 for the new sick day guidelines set by VCUSD#203.

Wondering about masks on the first day(s) of school? Here is how it will work. Your child cannot get on the bus without a mask. It is best if you provide the mask for that first bus ride. If you are bringing your child to school, please bring him/her with a mask on. On the first day(s) (August 17/18), each student will be issued two Vandal masks. These will be for them to keep and wear back and forth from home. It will be the parent and students' responsibility to launder the mask and wear it to school daily. - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

K-12 School Supply Lists can be found on our website : https://www.vandals203.org/o/vandalia/page/2020-vcusd-registration-information

Want to know who your child's teacher is for this year? The wait is almost over! We had a long, successful week of registration here at VES and I have been working all week getting students placed into homerooms. The K-3 grade class lists will be posted on the front doors of VES on Monday, August 10 by 8:00 a.m. and will remain there for the week. The PreK lists will not quite be ready by then as PreK registration was today and we need a bit more time to finalize those lists. K-3 grade lists will also be sent to the students' parents via email on Monday, August 10. If you have not registered your child for school yet, you need to do so asap either in person at VES from 8:00-3:00 or online via the online registration link on the district's website. - Mrs. Mesnard

Information about the first day(s) of school - August 17 and 18 If your child is a M/W kiddo, your first day will be August 17. If your child is a T/T kiddo, your first day will be August 18. Parents and visitors will not be allowed in the school, but we have come up with the next best plan to address this. Below is our plan: PreK and K parents only - If you would like to bring your child to school and meet their teacher, you may do so by parking in the lot and coming to the front yard of VES between 7:45 and 8:15. The PreK and K teachers will all be standing in the yard (socially distanced of course) with a name tag on and they will be watching for their students. You will have a chance to speak to the teacher for a few minutes at this time and introduce your child to his/her teacher. If you are not able to bring your child on this day, that is perfectly fine as well. There is always lots of staff members standing in all of the areas of the school helping children get off the bus, helping them find their classrooms, getting them to the proper teachers, etc. It is my promise to you that we will absolutely makes sure that all children find their way to their teacher and their classroom. All VES students - Sometime between Monday, August 10 and Friday, August 14, your child's teacher will be sending you an email that includes a video of herself. She will be introducing herself and welcoming her students via this video. It will give the children and their parents a chance to "meet their teacher" before the first day of school. I'm excited to see all of these videos and how I know you will be so happy and excited as well when you see the teacher's smiling face! - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

Information about School Supplies - If your child is returning to school in person, here is some information about how to handle the school supplies. Please send the more important items on the first day such as pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, paper, and whatever else you can fit into the backpack. The paper towels, Kleenex, GermX, baggies, etc. (don't quote me on those exact items as each grade level has specific items that are not all the same) can be sent in a bit at a time in the backpack on subsequent days. I know there is a lot to bring and we don't want to overload the backpacks so just send it in as you can please. Also, please remember, leave some of the supplies (such as a few pencils, a few crayons, a glue stick, some paper) at home so your child can use those on the "off days" - they days they are learning at home. If you have questions, please type them below for all to see. - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

I would like to give some information about the All In Remote Learning option for grades K-5 specifically. For the students who select this option, it is absolutely imperative that they have reliable and consistent internet on a daily basis. The use of a cell phone for this will not suffice. There will not be any paper packets created and distributed for these students. Mrs. Philpot is working on an email that will be sent out to the parents of the All In Remote Learning students sometime this weekend explaining more about this program and also details about Chromebook pickup. If you have registered for this option, please watch your email for more information.

Attention K-5 Parents/Guardians with Hybrid Learners- please complete the application for support provided by our community partners. https://forms.gle/LKe3qyVasrZenhVy8

Letter announcing our Vandalia ONE Community Partnership for Hybrid Learners in Grades K-5! Application live tomorrow.

Our website and email services are back up and live! We are back online, if you are still having trouble viewing the website you may need to clear your cache. Sorry for the delay. Chipman- Tech Director

IMPORTANT: Our website and RECEIVING emails are down currently. I have contacted our Domain Host and they informed that it will be up to 24 hrs before we are back online. Our host said that this was something on their end and sorry for the inconvenience. Chipman- Tech Director

DRIVE - THRU Tools for School 2020 information:

Hello Everyone! I want to remind you that online registration for our district begins tomorrow, Tuesday, July 20. There is a link on the district website to access this. I do want to let you know that all students who register for school grades K-3 have been placed in my homeroom for now and their teacher will be listed as Mesnard. That's right - I will be the teacher for all of my 500 plus students! :) How fun for me! I did it this way because at this moment I have no idea how many students will register for Option 1 - In Person Learning or Option 2 - All-In Remote Learning. At the end of the registration period - around August 10 - I will place all In Person Learning students (K-3) in a specific teachers' classroom and then post those lists online and outside of the school building. All of the All-In Remote Learning students (K-5) will be placed in Mrs. Philpot's classroom. I want to make homeroom classes as equitable as possible as far as numbers and boy/girl ratio, while also equalizing the Monday/Wednesday rosters for students with a last name beginning with A-L and the Tuesday/Thursday rosters for students with a last name beginning with M-Z. PreK students are handled a little differently. They will not have the option to register for the All-In Remote Learning so they are registering for the In Person Instruction only and following the M/W or T/T schedule like the rest of the children. The PreK teachers are Mrs. Huggins, Mrs. Kinkead (formerly Mrs. Laurent), and Mrs. Gomez. The PreK students' registration page online may reflect one of these teachers' names or it could say Mesnard. Either way they will all have one of the three teachers listed above. If they attended our PreK last during the 2019-2020 school year, the teacher will remain the same as last year's teacher. Another thing I want to make clear is that the All-In Remote Learning option is for students who will be doing all of their schooling at home. This does not mean they are "homeschooling" however; it simply means they are getting their education from VCUSD #203 completely in an online format being taught by Mrs. Philpot (K-5) who is a VCUSD #203 employee. She will be using the same curriculum as teachers teaching students who register for the In Person Learning (what we think of as "normal school"). If you register your child for this option you will be making a commitment for the first semester. You will have the option of choosing again in January 2021. If you do not want to access online registration, that is fine also. We will be conducting in person registration in the VES office according to the following schedule: Please ring the doorbell when you arrive. Kindergarten - Aug. 3; 1st grade - Aug. 4; 2nd grade - Aug. 5; 3rd grade - Aug. 6, Pre-K - Aug. 7. All of these days are from 8:00-3:00. I will try to answer any questions you may have but please remember to be patient with me as I will reply when time allows. Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

Dear Parents, I wanted to send what I hope will be a reassuring message out to you today. I know you have been hit with so much information this week about our school reopening plan, and I would like to break it down in more "elementary friendly" language for you. Online registration will begin on Tuesday, July 21. If you choose to register your child online you will be given two choices. Choice 1 will be for face to face, in person instruction - what we would consider "normal school" for two days a week. If your child's last name begins with A-L he/she will be going on Mondays and Wednesdays. If your child's last begins with M-Z, he/she will be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All children will be doing remote learning on Fridays. If there are siblings living in the same home with different last names, an exception to the rule will be made and I will reach out to those parents specifically to let them know. Choice 2 will be to register for the Vandals All-In Remote Learning which means your child will learn from home all five days of the week and will not come to school in person at all. If you choose this model, Mrs. Misty Philpot will be your child's teacher grades K-5. If you choose this model you will be making a commitment to this for the entire first semester. You will be allowed to reevaluate in January for second semester. If you do not want to register your child online, you can choose to register in person (with a mask on and following social distancing guidelines for capacity) at the VES office on the following dates from 8:00-3:00. August 3 - Kindergarten; August 4 - 1st grade; August 5 - 2nd grade; August 6 - 3rd grade, August 7 - PreK. The same two options will be available during this time. Regardless of which option you choose, each child beginning at kindergarten and going through 12th grade will be issued an age appropriate device that they will be trained to use in and out of the classroom. On the days they are at school, they will learn how to use the device as well as learning all the skills that are taught on any other school day in the past. They will go to lunch and recess as normal (without a mask), have specials as normal, learn from their teacher in their classroom as normal, etc. At the beginning the children will take home paper assignments in which to apply the skills they have learned at school. As they become more proficient on their devices, their assignments will be on the device but that will be a transition based on their age. We are working on plans to help families who may not have Internet access. For Option 1 as an example, let's use Johnny Adams as a fake student. Monday - Johnny goes to school in Mrs. Jones' class with about 9 other students. Johnny has a normal day of school and takes home his device Tuesday- Johnny stays home and practices (either on his device or on paper) the skills he learned on Monday Wednesday-- repeat of Monday Thursday- repeat of Tuesday Friday - Johnny stays home and does all or some of the following possibilities based on his teacher expectations and his age: Google Meets or Zoom meeting with his teacher and classmates on his device Talks to his teacher on the phone Complete an application assignment on his device or on paper Goes on a virtual field trip that his teacher has loaded on his device Watches videos of his teacher teaching lessons on his device Plays educational games on his device that his teacher has loaded on there Does a dance video that the Music teacher Mrs. Welch has put on the device Watches Mrs. Hall (the reading teacher) read a book via a video on his device There are literally hundreds of possibilities!!! For Option 2 - Mrs. Philpot is Johnny's teacher. He will meet with her somehow online daily to receive his instruction and guidance. She will do Google Meets or Zoom meetings with him and his grade level classmates on her roster, talk to Johnny and/or his parents on the phone or email, possibly visit Johnny in person occasionally, read stories to Johnny via the computer, show Johnny video examples of how to do assignments, teach Johnny how to use his device - again there are literally hundreds of possibilities! It will look similar to what we did in the spring but will be more intense and personalized for "each" Johnny! These students will recognize Mrs. Philpot's face and they will know she is their teacher. I hope this post helped you! I will entertain questions on this post but please be patient with me in answering them. :) Mrs. Mesnard, VES Principal

Regarding school supply lists: VES school supply lists have been sent to Walmart. I don't know for sure when they will begin displaying them. They are also posted on the district website. I realize that you will be purchasing a lot of school supplies like every other year. Some of those will need to be kept at home and some will need to be sent to school. We will not be able to have Come and Go Day this year so the first day of school for some K-3 students will be on August 17 and some on August 18 depending on the first letter of your last name. School supplies will need to be brought on this day. The school supply list (depending on the grade level) states that you need a couple of boxes of crayons, a couple of packs of pencils, etc. Please keep one box/set/package of crayons, pencils, glue stick, erasers, paper at home for the remote learning days and send the rest of the school supplies to school on day #1 with your child. If it is on you list, just do the best you can to find paper towels, Wet Wipes, GermX, etc. as we know those products can be hard to come by at this time.

Please see our letter on the Reopening of Schools for 20-21.

Dear Parent, The Limo Ride to Pizza Hut reward has been scheduled for Monday, July 6 - that's tomorrow! If you wish for your child to participate, the plan is as follows: Limo ride to Charters Patio - downtown Vandalia- Pizza Hut is not open for inside dining, but is open for take out. Because of this, a VES teacher will be picking up pizza and drinks and delivering it to the patio downtown. Mrs. Mesnard and a VES teacher will ride in the limo with the students from the VES circle drive to Charters Patio where we will eat lunch. The limo will then bring us back to VES to the circle drive to be picked up by a parent. Half of the students will be doing this from 11:00-12:00 and the other half from 12:00-1:00. Please check below for your child's name so you will know what time to have him/her at the school. I will be taking a couple of VES staff members with me for this trip. Your child's drink options will be Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. All children will be given a child sized mask for the trip. 11:00-12:00 - Mailee Cole, Tyler Frailey, Phoebe Devall, Tucker Wilburn, Parker Braman, Bentley Smith, Ryder Dunaway, Kenlee Payne, Maekenzie Kissiar, Leeland Ladner, Peyton Norris, Paisley Nickels, Jace Sapp, Lilly Craycroft, Raven Evans, Bentley Edwards, Addy Bowling, Hailey Thomason, Reagan Tate, Natalia Rountree, Benton Hickerson - PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD AT THE VES CIRCLE DRIVE AT 10:50 12:00-1:00 - Caroline Hunter, Lilyana Valencia, Owen Langston, Hollis Cole, Molly Willenborg, Jaxson Washburn, Bryon Manley, Kamden Knebel, Cohen Kruenegel, Brooklyn Burnam, Klaire Smith, Payton Gathe, Clayton Crockett, Oliver Whitehead, Danielle Stewart, Hollace Eckhardt - PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD AT THE VES CIRCLE DRIVE AT 11:50 If you have questions please let me know via email at smesnard@vandals203.org. Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

Please see my letter on the release of the Restore IL Phase 4 Transition Joint Guidance for schools. #VandalStrong

CUSD Special Board Meeting Live stream: Here is the link to view the virtual board meeting on 6.23.2020 at 5pm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkXtKBEsY50